Burgum intervenes in Belcourt case, suspends board members

Gov. Doug Burgum used executive action Thursday to suspend two members of the Belcourt School Board. Jeremy Laducer and Doug DeLorme were suspended from the seven-member board. The announcement came via a statement released to the media late Thur...

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Herald Staff Report |
Apr 25th 2019 - 5pm.

Gov. Doug Burgum used executive action Thursday to suspend two members of the Belcourt School Board.

Jeremy Laducer and Doug DeLorme were suspended from the seven-member board. The announcement came via a statement released to the media late Thursday afternoon; the statement also noted that "the governor's action followed approval (Thursday) by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians Tribal Council to suspend the entire nine-member Turtle Mountain Community Schools board, which administers federal funds for the tribally operated schools in Belcourt."

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Laducer and DeLorme are members of both boards.

In December, the Herald reported that Laducer was arrested after allegedly saying he would kill a woman. In the same report, the Herald noted that Delorme also has a criminal history, having been convicted in 2007 for assault and having pleaded guilty to charges of embezzlement in 2003.

Thursday, the statement from the governor said the State Auditor's Office is conducting a citizen-requested audit of the financial records of Belcourt Public Schools.

"Under state law, the governor may suspend a school board member if it's determined, in consultation with the state superintendent of public instruction, that it's in the best interest of the state and school district pending the results of the audit," the statement said.

"In the spirit of government-to-government collaboration, collective action is necessary to protect public dollars and ensure the safest and best possible learning environment for students," Burgum said in the release.